Putting on Christ

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:12-17 NLT


When I read this, I came to the conclusion that most Christians fail in this.  We tend to think that God owes us some great explanation as to why things happen to us, how could believers hurt other believers, how can these circumstances be good for me or the great question "WHY?".  I think the problem all to often stems from what we think others should be doing, rather than focusing on what we aren't doing. As believers we are called to "put on Christ".  That means we have to put ourselves off.  The above verses tell us how to put on Christ. If you go back into the first part of Col. 3:5-11, Paul out lines what it means to put ourselves off.


If we go further we have to realize some things, putting on Christ means acting like Christ.  Christ put up with a lot, like: being lied to, spit on, beaten, betrayal and even being put to death.  No we are not Christ, but we are his children and are to be imitators of Him.  Meaning we are to put up with the same things He put up with.  We are not better than Him.  He was our ultimate example.  In spite of all that was done to Him, mind you He knew what was going to happen, He still went to the cross.


When people you trust hurt you, when people you believe are supposed to lift you up let you down, just remember Christ felt that long before you.  Remember, you did that to Christ.  That is why Paul can write "the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."

Put on Christ, put off yourself.  Trust me, you will be much happier and will have no problem following in His steps.